Knitting-ktachnste



PATENTED JULY 3, 1855.

' T. FOWLER.

ROTARY KNITTING MACHINE.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS FOWLER, OF COHOES, NEW YORK.

KNITTING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 13,165, dated July 3, 1855.

To all whom 2t may concern Be it known that I, THouAs FOWLER, of Cohoes,in the county of Albany, in the State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Rotary Knitting-Machines; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe construction and operation of the same, reference being had to theannexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which Figure 1is an isometrical projection of a rotary knitting machine as improved byme for making ribbed work; Fig. 2, a vertical sect-ion through a 2(Figs. 1 and 3,) some parts being shown in elevation; Fig. 3 ahorizontal section through 3 'y, with some parts below that line shownin plan; and Fig. 4 a detached view of a stationary stitch cam.

The same letters refer to like parts in all the figures.

The description of the construction and operation of a rotary knittingmachine, as improved by me for producing ribbed work, is as followsviz:

J is the base of the machine.

K is a standard from which a complete circular series of radial hookedneedles, (B, B, B, B, 13,) fastened to the block X, is suspended by therod H. The block or plate, X, turns freely upon the lower portion of therod H, it being retained thereon by the washer T and screw U, or byother convenient means. The needles B, B, are arranged in a radiatingmanner in one plane with their barbs uppermost, and are fastened in anyconvenient manner; as, for example, by the method shown in section inFig. 2; where the inner ends of the needles are seen bent at rightangles to the bodies of the needles and inserted in a circular row ofholes, (6, 6) while the bodies of the needles rest in radial grooves asseen at 0 and c, and held by the clamp screws I, I and clamp plate I,made in sections for convenience in removing or inserting the needles.

C is a hollow cylinder or block, having slots or channels 8, s, s, s,.9, cut into it and extending from its circumference to near itsinterior surface. These channels or slots are in number equal to thenumber of needles in the radiating series, and are all cut of uniformdepth and width, and divide the cylinder into equal sections, 25, t, t,t. This cylinder is fastened at its largest part to the surrounding ringW, and is thereby supported, so as to be revolved directly beneath theseries of radial needles; the ring being supported and retained in placeby the flanged rollers S, S S and rollers S S projecting from thestandard K and ports 0 and O; or the cylinder may be supported by thering being held by, and turning Within, a circular box, or in any,ordinary and suflici'ent manner. A, A, A, A, are a set of hookedneedles, (equal in number to that of the needles in the radiatingseries) that are soldered or otherwise secured to the slats or strips A,A A so as to form therewith a series of sliding or movable needles.These strips are suited in size and shape to move freely, and withoutmuch shake or turning, within the slots or channels of the cylinder C,and are placed therein with the barbs of the needles directed outwardly.Semi'circular notches are made in the outside edges of the slats neartheir lower ends, and the inside portions of their bottom parts arerounded, so that the movable needles shall be retained within the slotsby, and be free to vibrate about or upon the cam ring D; which cam ringsurrounds the slotted cylinder; being fastened to the cylindrical part Jprojecting unequally from the base. The depression (6) in the cam ring,causes the movable needles to descend, and they rise, as the slot-tedcylinder is revolved. (The position of this cam ring is shown inoutline, in

- elevation and plan by the dotted lines 71., h,

Figs. 2 and 3). A small part of this camring is made adjustable (i, toallow a nfirledle to be removed or inserted when desira e. 1

E is a stationary cam supported within the deep groove C of the slottedcylinder, by arms R, R, fastened to the under side of the base of themachine. This cam (E) causes the movable needle to vibrate or partiallyturn upon the cam, ring D, as the cylinder, that carries the movableneedles, is revolved. The needles of the two sets alternate With eachother and revolve together; for those of the cylinder cross those of theradiating series in a considerable part of their revolution. Theradiating set is adjust-ed and secured at the right height to properlyoperate with the movable set, by sliding and clamping the rod H, at H.

The driving power is applied to the machine by means of the crank, L,shaft, P, pinion, P, and toothed ring W; or it may be applied by gearingto the bevel wheel V, upon the block that holds the radiating set ofneedles; or to both of the sets of needles, by well known gearing; so asto cause them to revolve independently, yet together.

N is an adjustable spring support for the ordinary thread wheel orsinker N.

M is a common rotary presser for the radial needles, and Y a campresser, in ordinary use, for the movable needles.

j is the yarn from a spool or cap and passed through the hole 0, in theshield and yarn guide, 37.

o is the knit fabric, inside of the slotted cylinder. This fabric mayextend to the take-up rollers, and be wound thereon; or, be left hangingto and revolving with the needles, suflicient weight being attached tothe fabric to give the proper tension upon the needles and stitches.This pulling upon the fabric causes the movable needles, when the cam Eceases to act, to return to a position inside the barbs of the radialneedles; but to secure this result more promptly, the movable needlesare surrounded by the guide rod or cam (a) that is held upon thesupports Q, Q, Q, or in other convenient manner. The position of thesurrounding cam or guide rod, in elevation and plan, is indicated by thedotted lines 9, 9, Figs. 2 and 8.

After the cylindrical fabric or web has been manually put into themachine, with the unbroken thread or yarn extending therefrom, and withall the loops or stitches of the inside ribs put on the radial needles,and all the stitches of the outside ribs upon the set of movableneedles, and the machine put in motion, its operation is as follows,viz: The yarn is carried and laid by the sinker wheel under the barbs ofthe radial needles. The sinker also leaves thereby enough yarn betweenthe radial needles to form the new loops or stitches of the movableneedles; As the two sets of needles revolve together, first the cam Epushes the movable needles outward until they are a little beyond theends of the radial needles before the cam ring D begins to draw themovable needles downward. During the passage of the movable needlesoutward, the stitches of the radial needles are completed; for themovable needles then slide the old stitches of the radial needles outwith them, over the barbs that are then sunk by the presser M and oi theends of the needles; while the new loops or stitches remain under thebarbs at the ends of their needles.

F is a cam fastened to the lower end of the rod H, and inside the knitfabric. The outer dial needles.

edge f, of the thin arm, F thereof, (seen in section at F,) is close tothe under side of the radial needles; and, by its shape and arrangementassists the passage of the old stitches over the barbs and off theneedles.

As soon as the old stitches are cast off from the radial needles, thedepressed part of the cam ring D, draws the movable needles downwarduntil their ends are a little below and outside the ends of the ra-During this downward motion of the movable needles the new stitchesthereof are made, and the old ones cast off; for when the needles beginto descend the old stitches are so drawn down by the tension upon theknit fabric, that the loops of which the new stitches are to be made areleft above the old stitches, and slide under the barbs of the needles,and the barbs depressed before the points of the barbs meet the oldstitches; consequently, as the needles are drawn farther down, the oldstitches are slipped over the barbs and off the needles. To assist andfurther insure the separation of the old stitches, from the yarn-for thenew stitches, at the time of depressing the barbs, the part F of the camF, is enlarged or thickened, and so applied to the web as to pass theold stitches fart-her down than would be eflected by the general tensionupon the knit fabric. As soon as the barb is depressed this cam ceasesto act.

To help slide the old stitches off over the depressed barbs of themovable needles, a stationary cam G, is arranged outside the web, yetwithin the needle cylinder, C, and fastened to theunder side of the bedplate of the machine; and so applied to the under or outside of the web,and close to the needles, as to raise the old stitches, or assist theirpassage off the needles. The end G, of this cam or stitch guide is bentdown so as not to catch in any holes that accidentally occur in the knitfabric. As soon as the old stitches are cast off from the movableneedles, said needles are raised upward, by the cam D, until their barbsare entirely above the radial needles, and are allowed by the cam E tobe returned inside the barbs of the radial needles, in which positionthey remain until the radial needles are again fed with yarn, when theyare again pressed out by the cam E.

When the machine is constructed and used as above described, plainribbed work, or that which has single rows of ribs upon both sides, willbe made. When fancy ribbed work or that which has, for instance two rowsof stitches upon the inside, alternating with one row upon the outsideof the fabric, is to be knit by this machine; every other one of themovable needles is taken out of the needle cylinder and the feed wheelraised a little, so that it shall not supply as much yarn as when plainwork is knit. The machine will also operate when alternate needles ofthe radiating series are removed; and by this system of removingneedles, several varieties of cylindrical ribbed work can be producedupon one machine.

Instead of knitting with but one thread and employing one sinker and twopressers, one cam E, and one depression in the cam ring D, as shown inthe drawings and above described; as many sets of these appliances witha thread of yarn to each can be used, as there is room for these sets inthe machine; so that one, two, three, four, or more threads can be usedat once, whereby the quantity of the fabric produced will beproportionally greater.

I am aware that a knitting machine, having two rotary sets of hookedneedles placed at an angle to each other and operating to gether and inconnection with a sinker and two pressers so as to make ribbed work, hasbeen used; and I do not, of course, extend my claim to embrace suchgeneral principle of construction, and I believe that a rotary machinehaving a radiating series of sliding hooked needles and an annularseries of fixed hooked needles operating together in a certain mannerand in connection with one rotary sinker and two rotary pressers hasbeen patented heretofore, to John Pepper Jr., and used to make ribbedwork; but that machine, so far as it is mainly distinguishable incharacter from older machines than it, is made to operated by asubstantially different principle of arrangement and construction fromthat employed by me. For I believe that the operation of that machine,aside from the sliding of the radial needles depends upon the fact thatthe line of the axis of rotary motion of the radial set is inclined toor forms an angle with the line of the axis of motion of the annularset; and without this inclination of the axes of motion of the two setsof needles, that machine could not operate to knit ribbed work; andfurther, by the adoption of said principle of construction, thepossibility of using more than one thread of yarn in a machine, isprecluded, whereas, by the manner in which I arrange and combine the twosets of needles in my machine and operate the movable needles by cams,as many threads of yarn can be used at one time as there is room for inthe machine of the appliances used to feed the yarn and operate theneedles; which fact is of much importance, as the quantity of theproduct of the machine is in proportion to the number of threads used ata time.

The distinguishing characteristics of my improvements in rotary knittingmachines for making ribbed work, are expressed or indicated in thefollowing statement of What I claim as my invention and desire to secureby Letters Patent, to wit:

1. I claim combining a revolving, radiating series of horizontal fixedhooked needles, and a series of vertical movable hooked needles that areso operated within and by a revolving slotted cylinder or its equivalentand by cams, as described, that the two series of needles shall operatetogether, and with, one or more than one set of appliances, eachconsisting of one sinker and two pressers, and make cylindrical ribbedWork substantially as set forth.

2. I claim combining and arranging the set of movable needles with therevolving slotted cylinder, and one, or more thanone set, of stationarycams, each set consisting of the cam E, and a depression and anelevation in the cam ring D, as described; so that the movable needlesshall be successively carried outward to cast off the old stitches fromthe radial needles, and then downward to cast off the old stitches fromthemselves, and finally upward and inward to allow the yarn to be againfed upon the radial needles in their revolving course; and the followingimprovements, viz:

3. I claim the inside stitch guide F, constructed and arranged inconnection with the two sets of needles, as described; to help cast 013?the old stitches of the radial needles; and to increase the distancebetween the old stitches and the new ones, upon the movable needles, atthe time their barbs are depressed.

4. I claim the outside stitch cam G, constructed and arranged asdescribed; to help cast off the old stitches of the movable needles.

5. I claim the cam (a) constructed and arranged as set forth; to assistthe return of the movable needles to, and to retain them in, theposition they occupy during the

